Exploring the knowledge and awareness on applications of virtual reality and augmented reality technology among dental healthcare professionals - a crosssectional survey.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge and awareness of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technology in dentistry. METHODS: A questionnaire survey-based study was conducted using Google forms on a sample of 273 dental healthcare professionals (DHCP) from October- November 2023, after obtaining ethical approval. A validated questionnaire, divided into three sections, was used to assess the knowledge and awareness of dental healthcare professionals on virtual and augmented reality. Section A was about demographic statistics, section B assessed knowledge and awareness regarding VR and AR and section C consisted of future acceptability of VR and AR among DHCP. The frequency of each question was reported in percentages. To assess the difference of knowledge and awareness of AR and VR among different specialties of DHCP, one-way ANOVA test was applied and in case of significant results pairwise comparison was performed by post-hoc Tukey test. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference of knowledge (1.40 ± 0.49) among different dental healthcare professionals. On pairwise comparison, a statistically significant difference (p = ˂0.05) of knowledge and awareness of AR and VR was found among dental specialist and other dental health professionals. CONCLUSIONS: A concerning lack of knowledge and awareness among dental healthcare professionals regarding AR and VR technology in dentistry was found. Interestingly, within the spectrum of specialties, dental specialists demonstrated a comparatively higher awareness than their counterparts in other specialties. Addressing barriers, notably a lack of knowledge, is crucial for successful technology adoption in dental education and practice.

Knowledge and awareness of dental stem cells among dental healthcare professionals - a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To assess knowledge and awareness of dental healthcare professionals on dental stem cells. METHODS: A questionnaire survey-based study was conducted using Google forms on a sample of 69 dental healthcare professionals (DHCP) from September - October 2022, after obtaining ethical approval. A validated questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and awareness of dental healthcare professionals on stem cells, which was then divided into three sections. The section A was about demographic statistics, section B assessed knowledge and awareness regarding dental stem cells and section C consisted of 5 score VAS scale to assess the acceptability of future research and increase implication of dental stem cells (DSC) among DHCP. The frequency of each question was reported in percentages. To assess the difference of knowledge and awareness of DSC among different specialties of DHCP, one-way ANOVA test was applied and incase of significant results pairwise comparison was performed by post-hoc Tukey test. RESULTS: Mean scores of knowledge and awareness of DSC among female DHCP were 54.26 ± 11.73 and males were 53.50 ±8.19. There was a statistically significant difference of knowledge (p= 0.02) among different dental healthcare professionals. On pairwise comparison by post-hoc Tukey HSD we found statistically significant difference (p = 0.03) of knowledge and awareness of dental stem cells among general dentists and operative dentistry specialists. CONCLUSIONS: We found poor knowledge and awareness of dental healthcare professionals regarding dental stem cells. However, operative and endodontic specialty had more awareness on dental stem cells as compared to any other specialty. There was positive approach for further future researches on stem cells.

Mesenchymal stem cells and its translation into clinical orthodontics: current trends and future perspectives.

Oral mesenchymal stem cell populations in humans have been discovered in close vicinity to oral mucosal tissues and both primary (deciduous) and secondary (permanent) teeth. All these different kinds of stem cells have the ability to divide and replenish themselves, however they vary in their gene expression profiles and their capacity to give rise to distinct cell lineages. They all have multipotentiality i.e. chondrogenic, osteogenic, adipogenic, and neurogenic. Due to their relative accessibility, these cell types may form a source of stem cells with substantial potential for application in tissue regeneration. In this review, discoveries outlining stem cell potential are discussed on various aspects as, are their various applications in orthodontics i.e. orthodontic tooth movement, fixing external root resorption, correcting craniofacial anomalies, accelerating craniofacial distraction osteogenesis, recreating the TMJ, and ensuring a stable maxillary expansion.

Compliance to donning and doffing of personal protective equipment among dental healthcare practitioners during the coronavirus pandemic: a quality improvement plan, do, study and act (PDSA) Initiative.

INTRODUCTION: With the emergence of SARS-Cov-2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defined mandatory guidelines for donning and doffing personal protective equipment (PPE) among dental healthcare professionals. The study's objective was to improve the compliance of the donning and doffing protocols for PPE among dental practitioners by the Plan, Do, Study, and Act (PDSA) cycle. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on a sample of dental healthcare professionals using the non-probability purposive technique. In the first planning stage, compliance with CDC-approved donning and doffing was assessed on the clinical premises. In the second stage, an educational session was arranged with all the healthcare professionals to explain stepwise guidelines of donning and doffing to improve the quality of donning and doffing compliance. In the third stage, improvement in the quality outcome was then assessed after the session. Data were normally distributed. Qualitative variables for all the steps of donning and doffing are reported as frequency and percentages. Pareto charts were made to assess the non-compliance rate for donning and doffing protocols among dental healthcare professionals. RESULTS: There was an improvement of 44.55% in the hand hygiene practices before wearing the PPE after the second step of the PDSA cycle. A percentage improvement of 7.4% was recorded for removing jewellery, wearing the gown and wearing a surgical cap. No improvement was seen in securing the mask/ respirator ties, washing hands after wearing the respirator, placing the goggles or face shield practices. CONCLUSIONS: PDSA cycle improved the overall compliance to PPE donning and doffing practices. Most of the protocols were followed by the dental healthcare professionals; however, some of them remained the same or worsened due to ease in SARS-CoV 2 restrictions.

Comparison of bracket bond failure with the aerosol-generating and novel non-aerosol-generating bonding techniques during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among orthodontic patients: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, dentists must avoid the aerosol-generating procedures during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the rate of bracket bond failure with the aerosol-generating and non-aerosol generating bonding techniques. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on a sample of 44 patients (880 teeth), equally divided into 2 groups: the conventional aerosol-generating bonding technique (ABT); and the novel non-aerosol-generating bonding technique (NABT). The rate of bracket survival and total number of bracket breakages in the 2 groups were assessed by means of the survival regression analysis. The influence of pre-treatment factors, such as the sagittal jaw relationship (ANB), the Frankfort-mandibular plane angle (FMA), overjet, overbite, and upper and lower crowding, on the rate of bracket survival was also evaluated. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between ABT and NABT in terms of bracket survival. The mean bracket survival with ABT was 176.21 ±77.89 days and with NABT it was 162.53 ±83.34 days. The novel technique showed a hazard ratio of bracket survival of 2.99 as compared to the conventional method. There was a statistically significant influence of overjet on the rate of bracket survival (p = 0.010). The posterior segment had a higher rate of bracket failure as compared to the anterior segment in NABT, which was statistically significant (p < 0.001). However, this difference was statistically non-significant in the case of ABT. CONCLUSIONS: There was an increased rate of bracket failure with NABT as compared to ABT. The rate of bracket breakages in the anterior quadrants was comparable for both bonding techniques.

Acceptance of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and the associated factors among dental health care professionals: A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: One of the greatest inventions of the 21st century is the development of vaccines against the life-threatening pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Whenever a new medication or treatment modality is introduced globally, it is accompanied by anxiety in the general public and among health care professionals. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to explore factors that may influence the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among dental health care professionals, as they are the first subgroup in the population to receive the vaccine. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 164 health care professionals (general dentists, dental specialists with 2 years of experience after graduation and dental assistants). Data was collected by sending a URL link to the hardand soft-copy questionnaire on Google Forms through all social media platforms. The questionnaire had 2 sections - the 1st part concerned the demographic details and the 2nd part was designed to assess the acceptance of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among dental health care professionals and the related factors. The normality of the data was assessed with the Shapiro-Wilk test. The Cox regression algorithm was applied to evaluate the factors associated with the acceptance of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. RESULTS: Out of 164 participants, 85.37% showed a positive attitude toward vaccination and only 7.32% of dental health care professionals were not willing to get vaccinated; out of them, 5 were males and 7 were females. Those who refused to get vaccinated included 3.6% of general dentists, 21.1% of dental specialists and 11.7% of dental assistants. The complications of major concern were fever, myalgia and the lethargic condition immediately after vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: A small percentage of health care professionals declined to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and the main reason was uncertainty about the associated side effects. The respondents were mostly concerned about such side effects as fever, myalgia and the lethargic condition immediately after vaccination.

Knowledge and awareness of dental specialists, general dentists and dental assistants regarding SARS­CoV­2.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS­CoV­2) has had drastic effects among healthcare professionals. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess knowledge and awareness among dental specialists, general dentists and dental assistants regarding standard patient care guidelines for minimizing the spread of the infection. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 84 participants. The participants were divided into groups of dental specialists, general dentists and dental assistants. A modified version of a validated questionnaire was used to evaluate knowledge and awareness regarding SARS­CoV­2 as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Data was analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc Tukey's tests to assess differences in knowledge regarding the SARS­CoV­2 guidelines across the 3 groups. The simple linear regression analysis was used to examine factors influencing the knowledge scores. RESULTS: Among all dental specialists, 13 orthodontists, 9 operative dentists, 8 maxillofacial surgeons, 4 prosthodontists, and 1 periodontist responded to the survey. The mean knowledge scores of dental specialists, general dentists and dental assistants were 10.05 ±2.10, 9.95 ±2.30 and 8.53 ±2.10, respectively. Overall, we found a significant difference (p = 0.02) in the knowledge scores between the groups, and pairwise comparisons showed that there was a significant difference (p = 0.03) in the knowledge scores between dental specialists and dental assistants. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that hospitals should conduct mandatory workshops, training sessions and seminars to raise the awareness of the novel coronavirus pandemic and disinfection protocols, not only for specialists, but for all staff members.

Assessment of cooperation and compliance in adult patients at three stages of orthodontic treatment at a tertiary care hospital: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: The study was conducted to assess cooperation and compliance in adult orthodontic patients during the leveling and alignment, space closure/molar correction and finishing stages of orthodontic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on adult patients undergoing fixed orthodontic mechanotherapy in a tertiary care hospital. Patient cooperation was assessed during orthodontic treatment stages using Orthodontic Patient Cooperation Scale (OPCS) and compliance by Clinical Compliance Evaluation (CCE) form. A sample size of 38 subjects was included for each stage of treatment; therefore, a total of 114 subjects were recruited for the study. Shapiro-Wilk test identified that the data were normally distributed. One way ANOVA was used to evaluate the percentage cooperation and compliance among three stages. Pair-wise comparisons among the three stages were performed using Post hoc Tukey test. Simple and multiple linear regression analysis were carried out to see the factors associated with cooperation and compliance. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was seen for scores of patient cooperation and compliance using CCE (P=0.01); however, the results of the OPCS were non-significant among the three stages of treatment (P=0.16). There was a significant difference in patient cooperation and compliance between space closure/molar correction and finishing stage (P=0.01). A highly significant decline in oral hygiene was found with the progression of orthodontic treatment, from space closure/molar correction to the finishing stage of treatment (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in the cooperation and compliance levels for adult orthodontic patients was observed during the space closure/molar correction stage, which then showed a decline as the treatment progressed. Maintenance of oral hygiene was gradually reduced with the progression of orthodontic treatment.